(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to regulating fluid flows and more particularly to setting a proper steam flow for slaughterhouse equipment.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,651 discloses a gelatinizer for slaughterhouses having a steam flow thereto.
BERMAN ET AL., U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,031, discloses an aspirator having an orifice plate between two flanges. There are two sets of seals whereby the plate may be in either of an open position or a closed position. There appears to be no disclosure of the plate in any position except either an open position or a closed position.
Other workers in the art have shown aligned bores with a slide having orifices therein wherein the slide can be moved back and forth to either align the orifice with the bores or move it away so that either a flow or no flow is permitted. E.g., ABBEY U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,146, BERMAN ET AL. U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,031. Other shut-off valves operate in a similar fashion but have actuating panels thereon. E.g., RABAS U.S. Pat. No. 2,816,730, COVER U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,220, LE ROUX U.S. Pat. No. 2,986,367.
Also before this application was filed applicant was aware of JOHNSTON U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,132 and CLARKSON U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,911.
In my previous patent as described above, I have disclosed a process wherein blood is gelatinized by the application of steam to a gelatinizer. This flow of steam may be accurately set by trained personnel at the time of installation of the equipment. Thereafter often untrained workmen believe that they can improve upon the process by changing the rate of flow of steam and, therefore, change the settings of the valves. This usually results in malfunctioning of the equipment.